Laurence Phifer says he was a top-grossing salesman at Al Piemonte Suzuki

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A former Northlake car salesman has filed a lawsuit his former employer alleging he was the target of a racially motivated termination.

Laurence Phifer's attorney, Eugene Hollander, said his client was "subjected to numerous racial insults, including the n-word, racial jokes, and seeing offensive racial cartoons in the dealership."

Phifer said he was fired from Al Piemonte Suzuki after going to management to lodge a complaint. He said he was fired despite being a top-grossing salesman.

"It's ridiculous in this day and age to have to put up with something like that," Phifer said.

In a statement, the dealer said it was unaware of the discrimination claims until it was contacted by the media Thursday.

"We can assure you the company has a strict policy against discrimination of any kind and we take such allegations seriously," the company said. "Since we do not know the details of the allegations, we cannot comment further."